A couple of weeks had passed since Siduri
moved in with me in the palace and the wedding day had already arrived. I asked
Shamhat to take care of the preparations for my future wife, and although I
thought she would reject my proposal, she gladly accepted it.
"You took it upon yourself to give me and Enkidu the best day of
our lives, Gilgamesh," she said with tears in her eyes, thinking of her
late husband. I no longer hold a grudge against you, you both liked adventure
and death always awaits adventurers.
-Thank you!
For my preparations I decided to ignore the law of my culture and not
put any man in charge of my preparations, since I had no other friend like
Enkidu.
—Why don't you hire another trusted man from the palace? —Siduri asked
me.
—No! No one is as worthy to accompany me on my wedding day as Enkidu.
-Whatever you want…
I organized a wedding so spectacular that all of Sumeria would remember
the day the great Gilgamesh got married. I ordered that the music be played all
day and night, that they set up food stalls every ten meters throughout the
kingdom and that they allow the wives of the prisoners to see them for all of
twelve hours. I was so happy that I just wanted to have a good day and spread
happiness, without resentments or regrets. My clothes were made of gold, lapis
lazuli and diamond, accompanied by luxurious accessories all over my body made
of the same materials.
"I love you, idiot," Siduri told me, insulting me as a joke.
—Me too, because with you something happens to me that never happened to
me with any woman, feeling love.
The event was absolutely beautiful, calm and without any problems. Then
we went out for a walk together through the city, trying the food that they
were offering us on the streets and chatting with as many people as possible.
Siduri had integrated surprisingly well with the town, as she was kind and
empathized with everyone. This was a good sign, as now Uruk not only had a
king, but it would also have a queen.
When night came I had a visit that completely delighted my stained
heart, because my mother had come to congratulate me and meet my new wife.
"You must be the famous brewer..." Ninsun told him.
—Famous? —Siduri asked confused.
-Yeah. You are famous for having managed to conquer the heart of the
proud King Gilgamesh, my son.
—He hasn't shown so much pride with me, at least not in a bad way.
"That's why I'm impressed," my mother clarified, looking at me from the
corner of her eye.
—Mother, why didn't you come sooner? I asked. You just reached the end
of the day.
—I've been busy, son. I had to convince someone very important to help
me with my wedding gift.
Suddenly, a bright light descended from the sky, blinding everyone
present. He was none other than Shamash, the god of justice and sunlight.
"Congratulations, young Gilgamesh," he congratulated me as he
landed and his feet slowly touched the ground.
"My favorite god of all, you don't know how much I wanted to meet
you... Thank you very much for all your blessings," I thanked a little
nervously, given that I had in front of me the god I most admired.
"He is my surprise, son," Ninsun said.
—Thank you! I always wanted to meet you personally.
"I'm not your wedding gift." Her elegant voice was more
relaxing than the currents of the purest rivers. I am here to give you the
gift.
—And which one is it? —I asked, intrigued.
"The opportunity to bring your great friend Enkidu back to
life," he responded with a kind smile on his face.
-That?! Would you do that for me?
Samash turned around and looked at the entire city, then he looked at me
again, placed his hand on my shoulder and said:
—I admire you too, young king. You have brought a lot of prosperity to
your town, you have managed to learn from your mistakes and you have taught my
stupid sister a good lesson.
—But how could that be possible? —I asked again—. The dead don't come
back.
—That's right, even the gods are prohibited from bringing the dead back
to life. However, I am the god of justice, and therefore, I can right any
injustice. To me, Enkidu's death seemed quite unfair and it is my duty to fix
that.
"Don't get too excited, son," my mother joined the
conversation. You will have to overcome the most difficult test of your life.
"And the most dangerous," Shamash added.
—I'm anxious! What does it consist of?
I could see a certain happiness on Siduri's face, because perhaps she
could meet the man about whom I have told so many things and adventures.
—My love, calm down a little.
The god Shamash proceeded to remove the upper part of his clothing and
took a few steps back. To my surprise, he then adopted a peculiar fighting
stance.
—Come! If you defeat me I revive Enkidu, this is the small condition I
decided to set.
-Sure? —I was taken aback by his proposal, since I was not expecting
that challenge at all.
—Yes, go ahead!
As much as I was the strongest inhabitant of the earth, I must not
forget that the opponent in front of me was neither more nor less than a god.
However, my desire to see Enkidu again was greater than anything.
—Shamash, don't kill him! —my mother shouted as a joke.
—You underestimate your son too much! —I reproached him.
The fight began in spectacular fashion. Like lightning I rushed at full
speed to attack him. I raised my right fist and just when I was going to hit
him with the powerful blow, he dodged it as if it were nothing. Did he really
think that such a basic blow was going to hit him? I thought.
"You will have to use something much more powerful than that to
defeat me, young Gilgamesh!"
In the blink of an eye, I completely lost sight of Shamash. As I turned
around like crazy to find him, behind me I felt his hand placing itself on my
shoulder. When I turned I received a powerful blow right in the abdomen,
throwing me at high speed right against a wall.
—Don't take this fight lightly! Shamash warned me. I am not any opponent
you have faced until now, in fact, I am one of the most powerful gods that
exist.
"You could finish me at any moment," I said while barely
breathing in the rubble of the wall I was thrown into.
—I don't want to finish you... I'm limiting myself to have a balanced
combat, hand to hand and without any type of divine power involved.
I got up from the ground hoping to beat him, and although I was aware of
his enormous power I continued fighting with pride. Every attack, every
strategy, and every move I made was quickly intercepted by Shamash, giving me
back double the damage I was trying to cause him. It reached a point where I
couldn't even move anymore, as his powerful attacks were slowly destroying my
body.
—Leave it! my wife Siduri squealed. You can't beat him!
"How little you know me, dear..." I reproached, disappointed
at his lack of confidence in my strength.
I continued attacking incessantly for days, and while I had wounds all
over my body, Shamash couldn't even notice a scratch. This was humiliating me
in front of the entire kingdom, since everyone had come to witness such a duel
of titans, god against demigod, but I think the winner was becoming more and
more obvious.
"I admire your worth, young king," said Shamash. But I think you lost
this battle.
—I will not give up until Enkidu is revived!
—Calm down... You passed the test.
—The test? —I asked confused.
-That's how it is. "This whole battle was just to test your
determination," he replied.
-I don't understand…
"You don't need to understand it either, Gilgamesh," said Ninsun. Just
enjoy the goodness of Shamash.
"So you will revive Enkidu?" —He could not fully understand
Shamash's intentions.
—Yes, I will. As I already told you when we met, I never agreed with the
unjust death of your comrade. It is my duty to apply justice, even if it
involves doing something forbidden. Furthermore, the poor guy couldn't even go
to heaven, since his soul has not yet managed to transcend, therefore, it will
be much easier for me to revive him.
Shamash raised his hands to the sky, put them together forming a
triangle and they began to shine. A golden magic circle appeared on the ground,
the edge of which looked like a ring in constant motion. I was surprised to see
how Enkidu's body slowly emerged from it.
—Is that you, really? —I was bewildered by what my eyes had just seen.
My dear friend was alive in the flesh before me.
My mother Ninsun, Shamash and my wife Siduri stared at Enkidu's body
waiting for a response from him. Although it seemed that Shamash and Ninsun
knew what was about to happen, as they were smiling very kindly as they looked
at the two of us.
"I'm glad to see you again, my brother," were the first words
that came out of Enkidu's mouth when he revived.
The joy was so great that I could not contain my tears, and in a moment
of extreme happiness we both hugged each other tightly.
—Thank you, Shamash! You were always the main god I prayed to and now I
understand the reason for this.
Without saying another word, both he and my mother disappeared before
our eyes, since the gift they had prepared for me had been successfully
delivered. And what a gift, because now I felt like the happiest man in the
world. I had a woman I loved and the most influential and important person in
my life, my great friend Enkidu, had returned. Now I really felt invincible,
with these two people by my side I didn't even need immortality.
"I don't know how much I deserve life, but I hope we have many
adventures like in the old days," said Enkidu as he continued to hug me.
-Yeah! Obviously we will have them, my brother.
I had never imagined that a god would do something so important for me,
since I always thought I didn't deserve anything good in my life.